Stephen leans in and kisses me passionately, including tongue. I kiss back willingly reaching back to close the door that still stands open behind me leaving us free to open eyes and the rather loud ‘tsking’ of other nurses.
Then my fingers intertwine themselves in his shaggy hair which is surprisingly soft and he runs his through my hair. Right when I’m getting the hang of it he pulls away looking into my eyes, turns around and goes to his bed.
“You wanna tell me what that was about?” I say quite loudly opening the door back up so if he tries to kill me to silence me there will be witnesses. Stephen opens his mouth as if to say something but he’s interrupted by the loud clicking of heels. I pray that it’s not Madeline and breathe a sigh of relief when I see Mrs. Tate come into the room. “Oh hello Mrs. Tate”
“Seriously Paisley call me Linda. Good glory I’m not that old.” Mrs. Tate jokes and I laugh. She’s really a nice lady. “Do you have work today?” she asks me and I shake my head no my boss’ told me to take a break because of working at the hospital and they will still give me some of my pay check. “Then you and I are going shopping, this apparel of yours is dreadful.” She speaks fast and soon is dragging me out of the room and into the bathroom telling me to change into someone presentable other than scrubs. I can hear her talking to Stephen and when the conversation gets a bit heated I walk out.
She huffed looking at me in my shorts and off the shoulder tee with a sparkly smiley face on it. The best thing I own, literally. “This is as good as it’s going to get.” I mumble heading towards my bag to run the brush through my long brown hair. Linda shrugs and kisses her son goodbye grabbing my hand and leading me out of the room. I grab my phone before she drags me down the hall.
I wave goodbye to Karla at the front desk and she waves to Linda. “Honey, why don’t you dress yourself better? You are a gorgeous young woman running around in hippie clothing.” My heart clenches when I hear the question but I knew it would come sooner or later. I could lie to her like I do to other people but the way she looks at me from the driver’s seat in her Corvette. I swear this woman has a different car for everyday of the week. I wonder if my car is fixed yet- “Are you just going to stare at me?” Linda says snapping me out of my thoughts.
“Okay…” I say trying to think of what way to tell her. “My father left my mom and me a while back and got remarried went back to college and became a doctor; a very, very successful doctor. Anyway after hearing of his new wife and money filled life my mother became very uhh, depressed.” I pause to see if she’s still paying attention or has tuned me out only to find out that Linda has pulled over to listen and watch me more intently. “She tried to kill herself before and that’s the reason she’s in the hospital now. Well my dad comes by to find me on Thursday to give me the child support check. It goes straight to me because she’s suicidal. I work two jobs and the one at the hospital to pay the bills; along with going to school. It’s hard, but hey we gotta live. Anyway there that’s why I don’t dress better.” I stop and look at her. We are back to driving again, in fact we are pulling into the local mall. “I can’t shop here, I don’t have the money, maybe you could take me to Goodwill or something?”
“No Paisley. I’m buying you whatever you need. I only have Sally and she has way more than clothes than she will ever wear. You have been taking such good care of Stephen, please let me do this for you?” she asks and my eyes water while I nod my head. Linda pulls me in for a hug keeping an arm around me as we walk into the mall.
I let her lead me into Rue 21 and watch as she goes to work picking out heels and other things. I sit down on some padded seats comforting myself and nod along to whatever she says about fashion.
*******
“That. Was. Exhausting.” I groan sipping on my hazelnut iced coffee from Starbucks, a place I’ve never been before. We spent five hours straight walking around the mall getting me new clothes, perfume, makeup, haircut, accessories, shoes, and everything else a girl could possibly wish for in her life. I’d never been spoiled but this is exactly how I always thought it would be.
YOU ARE READING
Fixing the Broken
JugendliteraturHe's a jock with a promising future, a large group of friends, and a perfect life. She's living in poverty... Working as a candy-striper at a local hospital to give her experience for her future in which she wishes to become a registered nurse while...
